Cricket 1889

462 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. NOV. 28,1889. will appear at Lord’s late in the season with this deserving object. The Australian manager is desirous that the programme should not exceed thirty-two engagements, and this will allow of two matches with Notts, Yorkshire, Surrey, Gloucestershire and Kent, anld one each with Warwickshire, Derbyshire, Sussex, Lancashire, LeicestershireandMiddlesex. Three England matches, at Lord’s, Ken­ nington Oval, and Manchester, will be made, w'hile in addition the Australians will play the Gentlemen or the South at the Oval, the Oxford and Cambridge Elevens, as we!l as Past and Present of the Universities at Leyton and Ports­ mouth, the Players at Sheffield, the North at Manchester,andLord Londesborough’s England Eleven at Scarborough. Th e news that Lord Harris has been chosen by the Ministry to occupy the distinguished position of Governor of Bombay, will have been received by all classes of cricketers with gratification. The loss to English cricket by the absence of the President of the County Cricket Council will be heavy, as everyone knows, but there will be general sat­ isfaction in the knowledge that he will be employing his great abilities in one of the most influential posts open to an Englishman, as he is sure to do to the advantage of his country. There is some­ thing specially fitting in his selection to fulfil an Indian appointment, as the interests of his family in that depend­ ency are hereditary. The title, indeed, was given to his great grandfather, for eminent military services as Command- ant-in-Chief at the seige and capture of Seringapatam, in 1815. Though out of touch to a certain extent, and for a time with the game in the old country, Lord Harris’s intense love of the game will still find full scope in a new field, and the news that he is coming among them as one of England’s administrators will give unmixed satis­ faction to the native cricketers, of which there are a great and increasing number in India. A v is ito r to Lord’s just now would be agreeably surprised to note the great progress made since the end of the season towards the completion ofthe newpavilion. In'two months the work has advanced to a far greater extent than might have been expected, and the build­ ing already gives a full idea of the impos­ ing character of the new structure. A recent number of the Builder , I may add, issued a large engravingby Sprague’s Ink photo process of the new building, which will be of great interest to all con­ nectedwith the Marylebone Club. When completed there will, it is said, be ample accommodation for over two thousand members. The exterior of the building will be in pink terra cotta and Cutter- brook bricks. The roof will go back at the end nearest the tavern, till it covers the roadway behind, allowing plenty of room for carriages to pass underneath. The contract price of the building, Ckick et readers will hardly need to be reminded, is .£17,000. I was the first to announce during the last stage of the last Australian tour in England that there was little chance of Percy McDonnell continuing to keep up his cricket on his return to the Colonies. He told me himself that he was going positively to retire altogether from the cricket field, and to judge by the remarks of “ Mid-on ” in the last number of the Melbourne Leader to hand by thisweek’s mail, it seems as if he was going to carry out his intention. There is not the smallest chance [writes “ Mid-on ” ]of PercyM’Donnell again appearing iD the cricket-field. The many Victorian friends of Australia’s most punishing bats­ man, will be glad to hear that he has been appointed to the management of the Miller’s Point branch of the Australian Joint Stock Bank, Sydney, and he has determined not to re-enter the field. Business before pleasure is a sensible precept, and X admire Percy’s resolution not to let cricket interfere with his duty, but I am sorry that he should consider it necessary to give up even club cricket, which one would hardly think would interfere much with business. He will be a severe loss to New South Wales and to Australian cricket, and I know the unbending firmness of his character well enough to know that with him a resolution once definitely made will never be broken. I sincerely hope that his success and progress in the financial world may be on a par with his average rate of scoring, and I am sure that every cricketer in Australia will join heartily in the wish. I need hardly addthat English cricketers will heartily echo the good wishes “ Mid-on ” expresses inhis last paragraph. The news that the Rev. W. Law, M.A., long vicar of Holy Trinity, Hammersmith, has been presented by the Archbishop of York to the Vicarage of Eotherham, will be heard with regret by Londoners who have had any opportunity of estimating the value of the good work “ Billy ” Law has been doing for many years in connection with the Harrow Mission. At the same time, it is fitting that Mr. Law, himself a Yorkshireman, should be selected to undertake a charge of such importance in his native County, and thosewho have had proof of his capacity for work and boundless energywill congratulatehisnew parishioners on the good fortune which has secured for them a spiritual head with such broad sympathies. Mr. Law, I need hardly add, was in his day in the Harrow Eleven, and subsequently did good service for Oxford from 1871 to 1874 inclusive. He is still as keen a cricketer as ever, and an useful all-round player in any company. A t the annual meeting of the South Australian Association, held on October 14, it was shown that the revenue for past year had been £2,592 and the disbursement £1,479, leaving £1,113. In addition to the ordinary expenditure, £8,632 had been spent on sub­ stantial improvements, including a new pavilion, leaving the Association in debt to the amount of £2,992. C U R IO S IT IE S OF 1889 , January 6 —Melbourne. J. Crane, of Mr. A. G. Spalding’s American Base-ball team, threw the cricket-ball 128 yards, 10 i inches. January 18—Badella (Ceylon). Dimbula V. Nuwara Eliya. Three batsmen got over a hundred for Dimbula, A. J. Denison in first, W. P. Halli­ ley and B. Bovill in second innings. January 26—Johannesburg. English Team v. ‘22 of Johannesburg. Abel and Frank Hearne got 137 wanted by former to win without the loss of a wicket. February 23—Sydney. University v. Albert. University scored 635. Three bats­ men got over a hundred, T. W. Garrett 274, Lee 123, and G. Bar­ bour 102. Garrett and Lee made 347 for the first wicket, the best performance recorded in the colonies in a senior club match. February 23—Adelaide. Norwood v. Hind­ marsh. G. Giffen and J. G, Lyons at one time scored sixty runs in fifteen minutes for former. Lyons and W. F. Giffen put on 151 for the first wicket. March 30—Melbourne. Melbourne v. South Melbourne. In six days 1143 were totalled for thirty-three wickets. Trott scored 216 in the latter’s first innings, F. H. Walters 126 in first, and J. Mcllwraith 132 in second innings of Melbourne. April 7—Melbourne. East Melbourne v. Fitzroy. East Melbourne made 515 for six wickets. April 28—Mirfield. Mirfield v. Horbury. Steele took all ten wickets of latter for five runs. May 2—Lord’s. M.C.C. & G. v. Middlesex Colts. No play took place in the two days owing to rain. May 9—Lasswade Club v. 20th Begiment. Lasswade terminated their innings with seven wickets down for 147. The first application of the new rule in Scotland. May 10—Harrogate. Harrogate Cyphers v. Bepton. T. Pride carried his bat through former’s innings for 90 out of 153. May 11—Bickley Park. Bickley Park v. Kensington Park. W. B. Pattison carried his bat through former’s innings for 114 out of 199. May 13—Lords. M.C.C.&G.v.Yorkshire. Nota ball was bowled in the three days. May 15—Dublin. Blaokwell v. Leinster. On measurement, after Leinster had scored 95 for four wickets, ifc was found that the wicket was four yards too long. May 15—Tunbridge Wells. Grove House v. Mr. Besacre’s (Southborough) XI. H. S. Webber carried his bat through the innings for 190 out of 236. May 18—Cambridge. Caius College v. Emmanuel College. Caius scored 367 for eight wickets in four hours. May 18—Harpurhey. Wesleyans v. South Bradford. T. P. Lord carried lis bat through former’s innings. May 18—Waloot Park. Uppington were dis­ missed by Walcot Park for one run. May 18—Woodford. South Woodford v- Amethyst. The latter were dis­ missed without a run. May 18—Barrow-in-Furness v. Kendal. G. A. Bigg and G. A. Stocks put on 237 runs for the first wicket of former. NEXT ISSUE, DECEMBER 27.